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slybri19
Commissioner of the NFL – Roger Goodell
Joined: August 7th, 2004, 4:47 am
Posts: 10744
Location: Sterling Heights, MI
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 Should the Lions Trade Calvin Johnson? Detroit Free Press wrote: Trading WR Calvin Johnson would net Lions bevy of good talent
BY DREW SHARP
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
The Lions are facing their own Curtis Granderson moment.
If it wasn't apparent before, it should be clear now after the Bailout in Baltimore. The Lions are looking at 2012 -- at the earliest -- before they're relevant, leaving them with no alternative but to re-evaluate the worth of their one measurable asset.
Calvin Johnson is worth more in draft picks than he is in the lineup.
Trade him.
Send him to a team confident that they're a big-play receiver away from a championship and get in return a bounty of early-round draft picks that could help the Lions address their No. 1 problem -- a cavernous void of talent.
One star doesn't matter on a team this wretched. Popularity doesn't matter. Merchandising doesn't matter. Good behavior doesn't matter.
Just as the Tigers understood that and traded Granderson and Edwin Jackson last week, the Lions must accept the truth. Even at the risk of public scorn, they must trade Johnson at the apex of his marketability.
Maybe that's a loser's mentality, but the Lions are losers.
Trading Johnson would stamp the final punctuation on Matt Millen's disastrous tenure -- the fourth wide receiver taken in the first round in six years no longer on the team.
What's funny is they actually drafted a genuine playmaker in Johnson, but he's someone the Lions can't fully utilize because of numerous holes elsewhere on both sides of the ball.
Looking back, 2007 will be remembered as the Lions' worst draft of an already distressing decade. I wrote when they tabbed Johnson second overall that it was stupid not to trade him right away because impact receivers remain the easiest to accumulate of any position, and the Lions could possibly help themselves with four of the draft's first 65 picks.
But the Lions argued that they accomplished both. They kept Johnson but also engineered deals that gave them three second-round picks.
The first second-round pick, Michigan State quarterback Drew Stanton, apparently isn't good enough to get on the field -- even at the end of a blowout loss. The other two second-round choices, defensive end Ikaika Alama-Francis and safety Gerald Alexander, are no longer with the team.
Last year, general manager Martin Mayhew fleeced Dallas for first-, third- and sixth-round picks by sending Roy Williams to the Cowboys before the trading deadline.
Johnson should command a higher price.
It won't be a popular move, but the first step in demanding accountability is honestly assessing how to best use your best player.
This subject has been coming up more and more often on sports talk radio lately. In fact, yesterday on FM 97.1, that idiot Valenti suggested trading CJ and the 4th overall pick to St. Louis for the 1st overall so the Lions could draft Suh.
I'm not saying that trading CJ is a terrible idea, but you have to get a lot more back than what Valenti threw out there.
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| December 16th, 2009, 10:13 am |
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TheRealWags
Modmin Dude
Joined: December 31st, 2004, 9:55 am
Posts: 11276
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I've seen this posted around and have been thinking about it. My first reaction is to say, "Are you f@#$ing crazy?!?," but then I realize that we are such a long ways away from being a competitive team and that CJ will probably leave when his contract is up that maybe this isn't such a bad idea.....granted it would take one hell of a deal for me to pull the trigger, but I would do it for the right price.
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Aristotle wrote: It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. Socrates wrote: The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
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| December 16th, 2009, 10:24 am |
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Pablo
RIP Killer
Joined: August 6th, 2004, 9:21 am
Posts: 8783
Location: Dallas
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No way, he is the only weapon for Stafford - let the two develop over time. Can you imagine an offense with BJ and Northcutt as your starting WRs? I can, they would be call the three-and-out offense.
The Lions have some pieces in place now on offense, they just need time and a few more pieces around them. Yes the defense is still terrible, but we are going to need to score to win games.
You know what we have in CJ, any other draft pick is an unknown at this point. Roy sucked, CJ can be a beast...
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| December 16th, 2009, 10:24 am |
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DayDreamer
Millen Draft Pick - Epic Bust
Joined: December 18th, 2008, 9:18 am
Posts: 701
Location: Where I lay my head is home
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Trading an established weapon for a question mark is just plain stupid. Suh is projected to be a great player no doubt, but whats the point in loosing a star to gain another.
IF and its a big if, we get a great WR, the #1 pick in the 1st and the 2nd rounds in return, maybe this could be considered. But I don't see that happening.
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| December 16th, 2009, 10:42 am |
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steensn
RIP Killer
Joined: June 26th, 2006, 1:03 pm
Posts: 13429
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I would take nothing less than two first and a second this year. I think it is insane to think we would trade him for a first and a second this year, then have to go around and draft a WR with one of the picks. It's just idiotic. Yes it is something they should consider... but it will have to be a blood bath to get him IMO.
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regularjoe12 - "You are crackin me up! really! HILARIOUS um let me quote some intellgent people in this coneversation: Steensn:"
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| December 16th, 2009, 10:58 am |
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TheRealWags
Modmin Dude
Joined: December 31st, 2004, 9:55 am
Posts: 11276
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steensn wrote: I would take nothing less than two first and a second this year. I think it is insane to think we would trade him for a first and a second this year, then have to go around and draft a WR with one of the picks. It's just idiotic. Yes it is something they should consider... but it will have to be a blood bath to get him IMO. Herchel Walker or Ricky Williams-type deal might do it 
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Aristotle wrote: It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. Socrates wrote: The only true wisdom is in knowing you know nothing.
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| December 16th, 2009, 11:00 am |
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steensn
RIP Killer
Joined: June 26th, 2006, 1:03 pm
Posts: 13429
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I could live with that...
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regularjoe12 - "You are crackin me up! really! HILARIOUS um let me quote some intellgent people in this coneversation: Steensn:"
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| December 16th, 2009, 11:05 am |
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DayDreamer
Millen Draft Pick - Epic Bust
Joined: December 18th, 2008, 9:18 am
Posts: 701
Location: Where I lay my head is home
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If a trade does happen, we need to get atleast one good WR in return for sure (In addition to a whole bunch of picks). There is no way we'd win a single game next season by throwing Stafford out there with "BJ with No Hands" and a rookie.
Last edited by DayDreamer on December 16th, 2009, 11:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
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| December 16th, 2009, 11:13 am |
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NJLION
Pop Warner Allstar
Joined: December 12th, 2008, 1:33 pm
Posts: 158
Location: NY/NJ
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Calvin is special and will only get better. He's the only WR we got right in the draft. Give Stafford time to throw and I think we will finally see just how good he is.
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| December 16th, 2009, 11:13 am |
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lightning_in_a_bottle
Pro Bowl Player
Joined: March 6th, 2006, 1:29 am
Posts: 2490
Location: The Terrordome
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This would be like trading Barry back in the day. The guy's special--you have to throw the fans a bone for christ's sake. I'm all for building for the future, but keeping CJ is similar to starting Stafford at the beginning of the season--recognizing that there is an undeniable entertainment side to football and you ignore that your own peril.
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| December 16th, 2009, 11:43 am |
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Blueskies
Fired Head Coach (0-16 record)
Joined: September 13th, 2007, 12:43 pm
Posts: 2196
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Three first rounders over the next two drafts AND an established player or a second round pick. Nothing less.
Even two first rounders isn't good enough because if you trade CJ you now don't have any decent receivers. So you'll have to use one of the picks on a receiver who probably won't be anywhere near as good as Calvin, and the player you take with the other pick could be a bust.
I used to think Valenti was of decent intelligence, but if he seriously said that he should be fired on the spot. What if Suh turns out to be a bust? I wouldn't even take the first overall pick for CJ straight up, it would take Stl's first AND second to even make it worth thinking about.
In short, this trade should never happen. I can't think of another team that would be willing to pay what it would take to get CJ out of here. Maybe the Vikings if they don't win the SB? But I'd want one of the Williams and three first rounders in exchange.
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| December 16th, 2009, 11:58 am |
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conversion02
RIP Killer
Joined: January 26th, 2005, 9:34 pm
Posts: 10069
Location: Sycamore, IL
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CJ would be a beast in Denver.
Trade him to Denver for their 2 first this year and their 1st next year.
Throw in Eddie Royal as well. 1 year wonder? At least he's a good KR/PR. He's got wheels and could be good with Stafford's arm stretching the field.
However, unless we got a Walker deal, no thanks. CJ is the face of the franchise (sorry Matty, CJ has proven more). You don't trade franchise players for nothing, unless you get a king's ransom in return.
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| December 16th, 2009, 12:06 pm |
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Blueskies
Fired Head Coach (0-16 record)
Joined: September 13th, 2007, 12:43 pm
Posts: 2196
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Swap Eddie Royal for Champ Bailey and I'd do it. (Before someone says I'm asking for the world...Bailey is on the tail end of his career--he's not the demigod he once was)
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| December 16th, 2009, 12:10 pm |
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slybri19
Commissioner of the NFL – Roger Goodell
Joined: August 7th, 2004, 4:47 am
Posts: 10744
Location: Sterling Heights, MI
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Denver doesn't have two 1st round picks since they traded their own to Seattle. That leaves the Seahawks and 49ers as the only teams with two 1st rounders this year, but that could change after trades.
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| December 16th, 2009, 12:14 pm |
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wjb21ndtown
Commissioner of the NFL – Roger Goodell
Joined: October 13th, 2005, 9:26 pm
Posts: 11926
Location: Grosse Pointe
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I'd trade him for two firsts (doesn't have to be this year, I'd take a 1st this year and a 1st next year), and two second round picks... Or two firsts (again, any year will do) and a decent WR.
To say that we shouldn't trade him regardless of the offer is silly to me. I'd trade anyone, at any point in their career, for the right offer.
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| December 16th, 2009, 12:22 pm |
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